Clear criteria for payment of MLA legal fees sought

Darcy Henton, Calgary Herald12.05.2012

MLA Moe Amery arrives at Provincial Court in March 2005 after he was charged with allegedly signing a passport application for someone he did not know. The veteran MLA was paid $50,000 to offset the cost of his successful $85,000 defence to the charge.

EDMONTON — Alberta Finance will seek to establish clear criteria for payment of MLA legal fees in wake of a $50,000 payout to Calgary-East MLA Moe Amery to offset the cost of his successful $85,000 defence to a charge of passport fraud.

Treasury Board paid Amery the sum in May 2011 because the charge — signing a passport application as a guarantor for someone he was accused of not knowing — was eventually stayed in 2005, Finance Minister Doug Horner said Wednesday.

“Had there been a criminal charge and he had been found guilty, he would have received no money,” Horner said in an interview after the payment was first revealed Tuesday.

Horner said the Alberta Justice Department’s legal counsel recommended a portion of Amery’s legal fees be reimbursed by the provincial government because the charge was incurred while the Tory backbencher was engaged in his duties as an MLA.

But the Finance Minister said he would like to see criteria or “trigger points” for such payments more clearly spelled out by the legislature’s member services committee, chaired by Speaker Gene Zwozdesky.

“At this point, it is mostly based on a legal opinion and I think we could talk to the Speaker about maybe tightening that up,” he said.

Amery, 58, was only paid for a portion of the cost of his $85,000 defence after his legal bills were reviewed, or “taxed,” by a lawyer assigned by the government, Horner added.

“They do a review of the legal bills ... to make sure we are paying what is a reasonable amount for legal fees,” he said.

In 2004, Amery was accused of making a written statement he knew was false to procure a passport for Salal Al Seidi — a crime with a maximum penalty of two years in jail. Amery had declared in April 2002 he knew Al Seidi personally for at least two years.

After the charge was laid, the Lebanese-born politician wrote to then premier Ralph Klein, offering to resign if he was convicted. Klein tore up the letter in October 2005 after an independent lawyer assigned to review the case decided there was no reasonable likelihood of a conviction.

Liberal Leader Raj Sherman said taxpayers were hit with “a double whammy” because they picked up the bill for the failed prosecution and a large portion of the defence.

“What were the legal costs to the province in launching a lawsuit that had no merit — that was thrown out?” he asked. “The people who launched the charge deserve the blame for this expense. It’s not Mr. Amery. He has to defend himself against a criminal charge.”

But the Liberal leader said it makes sense for MLAs to have their legal fees paid by the government if they are falsely accused while carrying out their official duties.

Several members of Treasury Board at the time declined to comment Wednesday, saying they couldn’t remember any details of the case.

In an interview, Amery said he applied to then finance minister Lloyd Snelgrove in the Stelmach government to have his costs covered, and after a lengthy negotiation, received the partial payment about 18 months ago.

He said his request was vetted by then Speaker Ken Kowalski and the ethics commissioner.

“Although they didn’t compensate me for the whole thing, anything, I feel, is an exoneration,” he said Wednesday.

Amery maintained he did nothing wrong and was “helping a constituent in my capacity as an MLA.” The veteran MLA said he doesn’t know why he was charged when the investigating officers and three prosecutors concurred there was no evidence to prosecute him.

“It’s a lesson to the Justice Department to make sure that they do not take on a case that they cannot win,” he said. “The police report said there were no grounds to substantiate any charges against me.”

The father of five said the fight to clear his name caused his father to cry and his son to drop out of law school for two years.

“It gave me a lot of stress over the last four years — not only for me but for my family and for my 102-year-old father,” he said. “I’ll never forget the day when I was so distressed and stressed out and my father said: ‘Don’t worry. We’ll fight it even if I have to sell my house to defend you.’”

Amery was first elected in Calgary-East when the riding was created in 1993, after having lost twice as an NDP candidate in the old riding of Calgary-Forest Lawn.

He said the one consolation from the legal ordeal was the support of his constituents in the 2004 election.

“I had never seen anybody else run in an election with a criminal charge hanging over his neck ... but eight minutes after the closing of the polls, I was declared elected,” he said. “That meant a lot to me: the court of public opinion.”

Amery said he hasn’t changed the way he carries out his duties as MLA because he “wasn’t careless” when he signed the passport application that got him into trouble. He described himself as a “fall guy” since Canadians now seeking to renew their passports no longer need to seek signatures from MLAs or professionals as guarantors to vouch for them.

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